Neighbors described living in fear in first day of punishment hearing for couple whose dog attacked, killed man

SAN ANTONIO – The punishment phase for a couple at the center of a deadly dog attack began Monday.

Christian Moreno and Abilene Schnieder pleaded guilty to the charge of dangerous dog attack resulting in death in August and will now be asking the judge for probation in the case. The state, though, is still seeking the maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

The fatal incident occurred on Feb. 24, 2023, when Najera and his wife were attacked by two of three loose dogs after getting out of their vehicle on Depla Street, off Highway 90 and Cupples Road.

In the state’s opening statement, prosecutor Raul Jordan said they are looking for maximum punishment.

“With ownership comes responsibility,” Jordan said.

State’s First Witness: David Avila

The state’s first witness, David Avila, was a neighbor of the defendants who lived directly across from the couple. He moved onto Depla Street in 2021.

“They seemed like normal people, no major issues at first,” Avila said.

The only issues Avila said he had with the couple was sometimes their trash would overflow and the wind would blow into Avila’s yard.

As time went on, Avila started having issues with Moreno and Schnieder, stating they would block his driveway with their cars, left a fire burning from leftover fireworks and their dogs would seem aggressive and always out of their yard.

“They weren’t friendly. They seemed to act territorial and out of fear,” Avila said.

Avila described a gate that would be tied together with string or wire and the dogs could squeeze through and escape.

On multiple occasions, Avila said the dogs would be roaming freely around the neighborhood and in the streets.

“They would bark, growl and approach people,” Avila said.

After multiple occasions of seeing the dogs out of the yard and roaming the streets, Avila said he confronted Moreno and Schnieder, asking them to get control of their dogs. Avila had a pregnant wife at home, as well as a 5-year-old child and said he feared for their safety.

“I wanted my family to feel safe in and out of our own home,” Avila said.

The feeling of safety went out the door on Sept. 11. 2022, four months prior to Najera’s attack.

Avila was outside watering plants while his daughter was playing in the yard. He noticed his green trash bin was knocked over and decided to bring it inside. Avila said he looked to see if the dogs were out and couldn’t see them, so he went to go get his bin. As Avila walked his bin in, the wheels of the bin hit the curb causing a noise, which caused the dogs to appear from their yard.

Fearing for his child’s safety, Avila began shouting for help and let go of the bin to get closer to his home. The dogs followed him onto his property and one of them took a bite at him.

“They cornered me, if I would’ve turned my back, they would’ve attacked me,” Avila said.

The dogs left Avila alone after a neighbors dog began howling nearby.

“I was in a state of shock and survival. I was shaking and looked down and saw blood coming out of my leg,” Avila said.

Avila called 911 and an animal control officer showed up. The officer took pictures of Avila’s leg and told him an SAPD officer would get back to him on how to file charges. Avila said that never happened.

The state showed pictures of Avila’s knee, depicting a bloody puncture wound.

Avila said he and other neighbors were scared of the dogs and it got to the point where they would stay in contact with each other, letting everyone know when the dogs were out of their yard.

When the deadly attack on Najera occurred, Avila was not home but was told of the attack.

“I found it tragic, really terrible,” he said.

The defense only asked Avila a couple questions, focusing on the city and Animal Care Services. Avila testified that no one from the city, SAPD or ACS helped him get information about filing charges.

“I felt like I was pushed to the side and nobody cared that I was attacked by a dog,” Avila said.

State’s Second Witness: Mario Cardona Jr.

The second witness to testify was Mario Cardona Jr., Schnieder’s the 26-year-old brother.

Cardona testified that he would stay with the couple from time to time and said the dogs were never aggressive to him but would get out of the yard frequently.

“The dogs would dig their way through the fence,” Cardona said.

Cardona testified that he never saw the dogs being aggressive to each other or to other people.

Moreno and Cardona had a falling out when Moreno accused him of stealing money four months prior to the deadly dog attack.

“He held a gun to me (at my chest). My sister intervened, saying there was no need for this and I left knowing I would never come back again,” Cardona said.

State’s Third Witness: David Terrones

The state called another neighbor, David Terrones, who lives two houses down from Moreno and Schnieder, as their third witness.

“I would see the dogs in their yard, the street and occasionally my own yard,” Terrones said.

Terrones testified that the dogs looked dangerous but never saw anything happen until Feb. 24, 2023, the day of Najera’s deadly attack.

“I heard somebody screaming, dogs barking and people yelling at the top of their lungs. I went outside and saw was going on,” Terrones said.

He was watching Najera getting bitten by the dogs, and said he saw a lot of blood and Najera fall to the ground. He also saw a woman getting bitten and started spraying water from a hose at the dogs to help get them off of her. He tried to help the best he could until help arrived.

“It felt like forever but it was probably about 7-10 minutes until a fire crew showed up,” Terrones said.

Fire crews tried to get the dogs away but Terrones said they struggled because of how vicious the dogs were and even said a firefighter got bitten in the process.

The dogs were called off Najera after Moreno and Schnieder got home and got them back into the yard.

State’s Fourth Witness: Fernando Esparza

The fourth person to be called to the witness stand was Fernando Esparza, a neighbor who also lived on Depla Street.

Esparza said he would notice the dogs roam the neighborhood but never had a problem with them until they came after him. Esparza was in the alley behind his house trimming weeds when the dogs bit him in the leg.

“I’m sure am happy I had the weed eater because I was able to fight them off,” said Esparza.

He called police but said he can’t remember if anyone instructed him how to file a complaint.

State’s Fifth Witness: Deborah Flores

A neighbor who lived on the other side of Moreno and Schnieder, on Darby St. was called as the fifth witness to testify.

Deborah Flores testified that she had concerns about the dogs since 2021.

“They would climb my fence, take trash out of my bins,” Flores said.

Flores has surveillance cameras around her house and video of those instances were shown to the courts depicting multiple dates.

Another video was showed to the court showing her son using an Orby gun to try to scare the dogs away. She said the noise of the Orby gun would cause the dogs to run away from her yard.

Flores said she confronted Moreno about her concerns involving how dangerous the dogs were. Flores said she had also seen two people get attacked by the dogs.

“I said, ‘I am going to protect my house, I have kids and he just seemed like he didn’t care,” Flores said.

Moreno and Schnieder’s dogs caused Flores to live in fear, she testified. She said never let her kids or animals out alone.

State’s Sixth Witness: Silvia Avila

The state called Silvia Avila as their sixth witness. She is the mother of the first witness, David Avila.

Silvia Avila would visit David’s house frequently because she liked helping him keep his yard tidy and clean.

Prosecutors spoke with Avila through a Spanish translator.

She testified that she would see the dogs roaming the streets on several occasions.

“I would see the dogs out about four times a week, almost always. I was terrorized,” she said.

Silvia Avila said she called SAPD and they would respond but nothing came out of it. She said she called ACS three times and they only sent someone out one time, two days after she called.

“I was very frustrated and disappointed,” she said.

When defense attorneys asked Silvia Avila if ACS should’ve have been responsible in getting the dogs out, she said yes. She also said the responsibility should still come from the owners.

Silvia Avila said she did talk to Moreno and asked him to get control of the dogs.

“They would say they would take care of them. They would put them inside but they would not fix the gate doors,” she said.

After her son was bitten, Silvia Avila said Moreno’s attitude changed towards her and her son’s family.

Silvia Avila said Moreno and Schnieder would leave every time police were called and said the couple would leave and keep the dogs inside while they were gone.

She was not at her son’s home the moment Najera was attacked but she pulled up on the incident when fire crews were working to get Najera away from the dogs.

“They were still biting him, they ripped his pants away and bit his arms,” she said.

Silvia Avila said she was in shock the attacked happened but is not surprised the defendants ended up in a courtroom.

State’s Seventh Witness: Yvette Rodriguez

Another neighbor who witnessed the attack on Najera was the seventh witness to take the stand.

Yvette Rodriguez lives on Depla Street and said the dogs were constantly out of their yard roaming the streets.

“The dogs were pretty vicious and always ready to attack,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez testified that her and her family had put up a privacy fence about two to three years ago to help prevent the dogs from coming across into their yard.

On the day of Najera’s attack, Rodriguez describes her sister saying she heard yelling. The two drove down the street and saw the attack happening unfolded before their eyes.

“I saw bloody dogs pulling and tugging his clothes, he couldn’t yell anymore, he couldn’t stand up,” Rodriguez said.

She continued on to explain what happened when fire crews arrived, she had the same explanation as Terrones, saying crews struggled to get the dogs off and a firefighter was bitten in the process.

State’s Eighth Witness: Belinda Rodriguez

The state called Belinda Rodriguez, the sister of Yvette Rodriguez, as their eighth witness for the day.

Belinda, who lived in the same house with Yvette, described Moreno and Schnieder as not being friendly and their dogs prevented them from doing simple things like going outside.

“We couldn’t go outside to mow the lawn, get the mail, have our girls play outside. They were constantly barking and being aggressive at us,” Belinda said.

Belinda said she called SAPD and ACS multiple times. She said SAPD would take their time and nothing would ever get done. With ACS, she said they never came by.

“They didn’t show up and that aggravated us,” Belinda said.

When it came to the dogs being aggressive, Belinda witnessed the dogs bite David Avila.

On the date of Najera’s attack, Belinda said she heard screaming and yelling. She wasn’t sure if she was right and that is when her and Yvette went to see what happening in her car.

“I wasn’t going to walk because those dogs are very aggressive,” Belinda said.

The sisters tried to stop the attack, honking the car horn and throw water bottles at the dogs but it wasn’t enough to get the dogs to stop completely.

Testimony will continue Tuesday morning in the 226th District Court.